Install Kibana from archive on Linux or macOSedit

Kibana is provided for Linux and Darwin as a .tar.gz package. These packages are the easiest formats to use when trying out Kibana.

This package contains both free and subscription features. Start a 30-day trial to try out all of the features.

The latest stable version of Kibana can be found on the Download Kibana page. Other versions can be found on the Past Releases page.

Download and install the Linux 64-bit packageedit

The Linux archive for Kibana v7.17.19 can be downloaded and installed as follows:

curl -O https://artifacts.elastic.co/downloads/kibana/kibana-7.17.19-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
curl https://artifacts.elastic.co/downloads/kibana/kibana-7.17.19-linux-x86_64.tar.gz.sha512 | shasum -a 512 -c - 
tar -xzf kibana-7.17.19-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
cd kibana-7.17.19-linux-x86_64/ 

Compares the SHA of the downloaded .tar.gz archive and the published checksum, which should output kibana-{version}-linux-x86_64.tar.gz: OK.

This directory is known as $KIBANA_HOME.

Download and install the Darwin packageedit

macOS Gatekeeper warnings

Apple’s rollout of stricter notarization requirements affected the notarization of the 7.17.19 Kibana artifacts. If macOS displays a dialog when you first run Kibana that interrupts it, you will need to take an action to allow it to run.

To prevent Gatekeeper checks on the Kibana files, run the following command on the downloaded .tar.gz archive or the directory to which was extracted:

xattr -d -r com.apple.quarantine <archive-or-directory>

Alternatively, you can add a security override if a Gatekeeper popup appears by following the instructions in the How to open an app that hasn’t been notarized or is from an unidentified developer section of Safely open apps on your Mac.

The Darwin archive for Kibana v7.17.19 can be downloaded and installed as follows:

curl -O https://artifacts.elastic.co/downloads/kibana/kibana-7.17.19-darwin-x86_64.tar.gz
curl https://artifacts.elastic.co/downloads/kibana/kibana-7.17.19-darwin-x86_64.tar.gz.sha512 | shasum -a 512 -c - 
tar -xzf kibana-7.17.19-darwin-x86_64.tar.gz
cd kibana-7.17.19-darwin-x86_64/ 

Compares the SHA of the downloaded .tar.gz archive and the published checksum, which should output kibana-{version}-darwin-x86_64.tar.gz: OK.

This directory is known as $KIBANA_HOME.

Run Kibana from the command lineedit

Kibana can be started from the command line as follows:

./bin/kibana

By default, Kibana runs in the foreground, prints its logs to the standard output (stdout), and can be stopped by pressing Ctrl-C.

Configure Kibana via the config fileedit

Kibana loads its configuration from the $KIBANA_HOME/config/kibana.yml file by default. The format of this config file is explained in Configuring Kibana.

Directory layout of .tar.gz archivesedit

The .tar.gz packages are entirely self-contained. All files and directories are, by default, contained within $KIBANA_HOME — the directory created when unpacking the archive.

This is very convenient because you don’t have to create any directories to start using Kibana, and uninstalling Kibana is as easy as removing the $KIBANA_HOME directory. However, it is advisable to change the default locations of the config and data directories so that you do not delete important data later on.

Type Description Default Location Setting

home

Kibana home directory or $KIBANA_HOME

Directory created by unpacking the archive

bin

Binary scripts including kibana to start the Kibana server and kibana-plugin to install plugins

$KIBANA_HOME\bin

config

Configuration files including kibana.yml

$KIBANA_HOME\config

KBN_PATH_CONF

data

The location of the data files written to disk by Kibana and its plugins

$KIBANA_HOME\data

plugins

Plugin files location. Each plugin will be contained in a subdirectory.

$KIBANA_HOME\plugins